Our water, our management
It is vital to tap the local community - get them involved - when implementing piped-water supply schemes through the Jal Jeevan Mission, as the lessons from Panna, MP prove.
Safe and adequate drinking water to every rural household by 2021 through tap connections – that is the goal of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JMM) of the Government of India.
Community-managed indigenous systems of water management existed in India for many centuries. These systems met the irrigation, drinking and domestic water needs of the community. Even now one can see some successful models in Gujarat.
The JMM is a community-based approach that includes extensive information, education and communication as key components.
However, the water management experience in the Panna district in the northeast part of Madhya Pradesh provides important lessons about the challenges of implementing JMM drinking water schemes.
Providing piped water in Panna
The Panna district, near the picturesque mountain range of Vindhyachal, has a rural population of around 85%. Half of whom belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Despite high rainfall, due to its unfavourable terrain, there is little groundwater. So the dependence on surface water is huge.
Most people still depend on forest produce for their life and livelihood. The culture of sharing and community management of resources is an important aspect of their life.
So what happens when a water supply scheme is planned without involving the community?
The mistakes of planning without community involvement
Planning for a pipe-water supply scheme (PWSS) involves assessing the water demand for humans and animals, understanding the supply-demand gap, identifying the sources of the PWSS and a holistic water security plan.
Involving the community in planning is critical. But the government department argues that the community does not have the technical capabilities to understand the PWSS work.
In Panna the Village Water Sanitation Committee (VWSC) and the panchayat – the major stakeholders in the PWSS – were not involved. The panchayat has to form the VWSC and the committee helps with the planning and implementation of JJM. Last time, with one person just drawing up a list of names as members while sitting in his office, most of the VWSC members in 42 villages did not even know that they were members of such a committee.
This is despite JJM clearly mentioning that the two entities have to manage the scheme after the handover. They are fundamental in making this a successful project.
Not involving them at the planning stage leads to a lack of clarity about their role in operations and maintenance, especially in monitoring and collecting tariff.
Similarly, panchayats got to know about the scheme only when the engineer from Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and private contractors came to hand it over to the panchayat. Of the eight functional village schemes, representatives in seven learnt about the PWSS only at the last stage of work.
Not involving the stakeholders resulted in PWSS borewells in four of the 11 villages drying up.
No community involvement, no collective ownership
Naturally, such non-involvement of the community in the planning process leads to lack or no collective ownership of the PWSS.
The project report prepared by the PHED engineer has all the technical details. But when this report is not shared with the panchayat it hampers collecting the cost and water tariff.
The behavioural problem of people thinking it is the government’s responsibility to provide water free of cost is another challenge.
Also, the complex social dynamics leads to the community not trusting each other and the panchayat over financial matters.
Doesn’t have to be this way
But as Gujarat showed, community involvement resulted in better water management.
The Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) was established in Gujarat to provide water to villages and involve the community as partners in the process. WASMO worked alongside the panchayat, the villagers and the PHED to provide safe drinking water.
Providing drinking water to all of Gujarat was done through WASMO and the results have been very encouraging, though the role of WASMO was really that of a facilitator.
Where water was supplied through trains and tankers earlier, now almost every household has piped-water supply.
The biggest achievement is that the villagers could make committees themselves. With the help of village organisations they practised better water management, providing drinking water and also disposing of wastewater.
Tapping local knowledge means better water management
As is known, lack of adequate availability of drinking water is one of the primary issues for rural communities across the country. And the problem is only increasing with time. A community-based water management scheme like JJM is extremely crucial in potentially addressing this problem.
The idea behind community-based drinking water management is the acceptance that water is a scarce resource – which no one knows better than the local community. Hence in similar ecosystems, there are a number of distinct advantages in practising community-based water management.
Communities often possess indigenous knowledge related to water resources, needs and historical changes related to water use. They also recognise that water is a fundamental need for their subsistence-based livelihoods.
They are able to monitor agreed water usage on a daily basis, as part of their daily activities.
Also they often have mechanisms for conflict resolution, which may require continued support to adapt to present day challenges.
The identification of problems and possible solutions for those problems is a major step forward. The success of the JJM lies with the participation of the stakeholders, most importantly the community.
That is why the lessons from Panna can provide a set of guidelines for the effective implementation of community-based water management programmes.
The lead image at the top of this page shows Village Water Sanitation Committee meeting for the planning and implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (Photo courtesy Ankur Pandey).
Ankur Pandey is a District Program Facilitator with Samarthan, an organisation working on local governance and WASH. He loves engaging with the communities.
